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Liquid foods like milk or fruit juice must be
eaten and not drunk. That is, they must be treated
as solid food and taken in slowly, so that insalivation
may be complete.
It v/as Fletcher who first drew the attention
of the west to the need for mastication. Simply by
adhering to the rule of eating slowly, he not only
regained his lost health/ but established world
records in endurance tests. But he did not live to
a ripe old age, partly because he wasted his vitatity
in exhausting physical exercise and mainly because
though he chewed his foods welL he chose them ill.
However, his example has clearly demonstrated
that slow eating and abstemiousness will alone
go a long way in setting right many obstinate
digestive disorders.
CAUSE (3) Eating too much:—
Overeating is bound to lead to indigestion.
Suppose you eat twice the quantity of food which
your stomach can tolerate, it will not be digested in
double the normal time even.
The stomach is an elastic bag, but there is a limit
to its elasticity. When it is filled to its maximum
capacity, it cannot contract and expand and do the
churning, This can be easily understood if you try
to gargle with your mouth filled completely with
water. You cannot/ unless you spit out a little of the
water. That is why you get acid risings in the throat
after a very heavy meal. The stomach is trying to
get rid of part of its load. Under such circumstances/
the best course is to vomit.
Food is perishable. It retains its perishable
character up to the time it is assimilated and
becomes part of the body substance. If food stays
longer than normal in the digestive tract, it will
deteriorate; starches will ferment, proteins will